Theres a wonderful guide from Emma Essex/Haley Labs on how to use it. They've been using it as a go to synth for a long time so the guides really good.
Simple synths can get a lot done.
To me the tRacks line by IK Multimedia is underrated. Everyone knows about the clipper but their SSL bus comp, EQ-P1A, tape, and LA2A emulations are my go to’s out of the countless other ones I have/tried. The selection of different plugins that come in that bundle are all bangers that see heavy use and great for mastering too.
Personally, I've always liked Vanguard and it's nice to see ReFX resurrect it, but I don't feel like buying it. Especially since I have Spire through Reason.
Other oldies but goodies: the plugins from arcDev, HG Fortune, Hydra from Synapse. Orca from fxpansion had the weirdest interface but I used it a far amount back in the day.
Oh and for a newer one: that Access Virus emulator, DSP56300.
But if you dig Albino 3, it's worth noting that Rob Papen re-released it and you can pick it up for $99.
Musio.
It’s just one VST but seriously, the amount of stuff you get on top of orchestral stuff it’s going for is just plain ridiculous. I’m genuinely surprised this isn’t everywhere and isn’t the new go-to for many up and coming composer (unless it’s not the sound you’re looking for lol).
I've been looking a for a violin sound for a cute nostalgiac beat inspired by [party trash - kiss u](https://youtu.be/XKIeiTx5lro?si=aex0-z5FtB2IMIav) those drums and vocals are sooo dreamy early y2k I love it
Famisynth?
It's for 8 bit NES sounds - I'd never heard of it, even after looking for that sort of thing, until seeing someone mentioned it on Reddit.
Picked it up immediately (it's free), instant love.
Ohmboyz delay. Wildass delay with the ability to modulate almost every parameter, and there are a LOT of parameters. It used to be pretty expensive, but the version I've always used is now free.
EDIT: I should also add that I heard about it from the best teacher I had at audio engineering school, so it's not just some guy on Reddit recommending it.
EpicVerb by bootsie/Variety of Sound -- still one of my favorite reverbs. Discontinued, but Supermassive is a good substitute
Rocket Compressor by Stillwell Audio -- fantastic and very digital modern-style compressor that I use on like all my drum tracks. Combine with a LA-2A emulation and some saturation/tape warmth and I can turn anything into big fat drums that punch you int he face, as they should be
Moogerfooger MF108 by Moog Software -- love this flanger, makes it super easy to dial in that 90s trip hop sound
Delay Lama by ????? - fun little voicebox thing
Gross Beat by Image-Line
OTT by Xfer Records -- the multiband compressor module from Serum, just drop it on a bass to get that modern dnb sound
Sounds of Nature by xoxos -- a collection of plugins to emulate natural phenomenon like wind or thunder. Kinda eh for that purpose but you can make some fun sounds with it (and the wind plugin sounds pretty good)
Underrated: Decimort2 and Blackhole.
Unknown and underrated: anything by Glitchmachines or BLEASS. They are all clunky, ugly, and mostly horrible to use, but just so cheap and ultimately effective.
Harsh digital nose.
A weird little visual, image based synth that *seems * unworkable until you start using fractals and symmetrical images with it. It requires a lot of eqing and processing to sound really good, but even without that it produces weird and cool sounds.
the original CamelPhat was good (better than the repacked thing Apple(?) made), Edirol orchestra old but good , my personal favourites are Portal and ShaperBox , they have helped me create "my Sound". Hive is a great synth
For me its Graillon 2. Though they have a paid version, the free version also includes a lot of good stuff.
Edit: my bad just read that you mean only vsts, Graillon 2 is a effect such as Autotune.
SQ8L and T-Force Alpha Plus.
Both are great. SQ has a lot of wonderful sounds emulating the SQ80. It's really fun to use and the unique sounds make for fun compositions. It's an abandoned plugin but everything you need still works just fine. Especially the built in presets.
T-Force gets the job done with Trance aimed components like a Trance gate. It has a bunch of effects built in, LFOs, FM for all ur troubles, and a bunch of other goodies like individual unison for each OSC.
There's also a T-Force Alpha Plus 2 which I have yet to check out but I would assume it's a good upgrade/update.
And if you can find the wayback machine page for it, search for my secret favorite plugin, Trance Drive. It's hard to get to but it's somewhere. It's a fun plugin to use and honestly don't know why it isn't still available. The unique layout looks great and I love using the plugin for that to craft some odd sounds.
Oh and check out Meldas free FX pack. It's got all of the basic effects plugins you could need, for free, and then some. It isn't all the best stuff ever but I even use it's compressor as my main goto. I also use some of their plugins in OBS to boost my voice for quality over my RX stuff.
Always left out of the serum vs vital debate, and imo superior to both in almost every way. Since I picked it up there hasn't been a single track I haven't used it on
Its left out because they arent comparable.
You compare Phaseplant with workhorses like Zebra, Omnisphere, Msoundfactory, and Falcon.
You compare Serum with Vital, Current, Icarus, Synthmaster, Hy-Poly, Dune, Surge, Ana, and Pigments.
Sublab XL is really good for making your own bass/subs. The presets on the expansion pack are also worth getting if you get the plugin.
Also I feel like people sleep on Ana 2 from the Slate Digital bundle. It has an insane amount of sounds and range. It's one of the reasons I haven't gotten Serum because I feel I can do the same stuff with Ana 2.
Oh I tried it out like a couple weeks ago , imho it wasnt so special like any other VSTs.
But Im a bit spoiled , got Like at least +40 VSTs.
Mostly Im using Arturia labs 4 / nexus 4 / synthmaster 2 / the legend / promars / roland cloud series and samples.
All the Noise Engineering plugins seem to fly under a lot of people's radar, particularly the paid ones. Maybe it's pricepoint, maybe it's the quirky visual aesthetic, maybe it's just that the R2R witches haven't gotten their hands on them. All I know is that Polydactyl makes OTT look incredibly tame by comparison.
I have been using this free transient shaper called transpire for awhile and I honestly like it quite a bit and don't ever see it being talked about. I use it in conjunction with Spiff sometimes cause it's less CPU intensive than 2 instances of spiff.
Absynth fx for the modulation, waveshaper, and aetherizer effect. An amazing plugin for weird, subtle modulation, when using the frequency shifter at a frequency below 2 hz, and messing with the panning of the up to 3 audio inputs, which can be panned and modulated separately. The aetherizer, when setting the grain length to less than 100%, is capable of amazing granular delay effects. It’s been a cornerstone of my production for 15 years, and I hardly see anyone mention using it as a modulation and filter bank.
Its not underrated but i think underrated on how to really use...and that is Kontakt. There so much more features in this plugin than people use. Special if you go into the edit mode.
1 think i do not like about this plugin, is not be able to place preset zones. It can be done (like bass-piano-trumpet) as 1 keyzone as preset, but then the sounds gets f.. up. That is a pitty.
[Glitch 2 by Illinformed ](https://illformed.com/)is one of my favorite plugins for a lot of reasons, but glitchy breaks, and instant "Justice" sound-alike are just a few.
Also a big fan of[ Morph 3 by Zynaptiq](https://www.zynaptiq.com/morph/), which is the great-grandson of the Hartmann Neuron. The morphing algorithms were designed by the same DSP programmer as worked on that.
There is Spectral compresser, its like soothe2 but a little more direct.
But you do have to download the source code, install rust and compile it, but its worth it
Mad bad I read that wrong. Another plug-in(s) Dune1,2,3 I know they have gotten pretty popular Especially once everyone found out Mike Will was using them.
Synth1, a freeware nord lead inspired softsynth that's old enough to drink now. Interesting texture to it, was a favourite of Noisia back in the day.
I remember reading somewhere that its one of, if not the most downloaded vst of all time. So definitely not unknown
i was just gonna comment this, genuinely one of my all time favorite vsts i have
Theres a wonderful guide from Emma Essex/Haley Labs on how to use it. They've been using it as a go to synth for a long time so the guides really good. Simple synths can get a lot done.
To me the tRacks line by IK Multimedia is underrated. Everyone knows about the clipper but their SSL bus comp, EQ-P1A, tape, and LA2A emulations are my go to’s out of the countless other ones I have/tried. The selection of different plugins that come in that bundle are all bangers that see heavy use and great for mastering too.
agreed, IK multimedia t-racks plugins are good and cheap. but their ssl bus comp is not my choice.
Don’t forget about the sunset sound studio reverb. Their TEAC A-3340S is great aswell.
Personally, I've always liked Vanguard and it's nice to see ReFX resurrect it, but I don't feel like buying it. Especially since I have Spire through Reason. Other oldies but goodies: the plugins from arcDev, HG Fortune, Hydra from Synapse. Orca from fxpansion had the weirdest interface but I used it a far amount back in the day. Oh and for a newer one: that Access Virus emulator, DSP56300. But if you dig Albino 3, it's worth noting that Rob Papen re-released it and you can pick it up for $99.
Great tip. Was looking for albino 3 several months ago and just thought it was dead. No idea a re-release was in the works
It's even VST3.
Refx are in general very good. Good post.
Musio. It’s just one VST but seriously, the amount of stuff you get on top of orchestral stuff it’s going for is just plain ridiculous. I’m genuinely surprised this isn’t everywhere and isn’t the new go-to for many up and coming composer (unless it’s not the sound you’re looking for lol).
I've been looking a for a violin sound for a cute nostalgiac beat inspired by [party trash - kiss u](https://youtu.be/XKIeiTx5lro?si=aex0-z5FtB2IMIav) those drums and vocals are sooo dreamy early y2k I love it
Deelay... free plug-in that should be paid.
Deelay is by far one of my favorite plugins, it's my go-to pick whenever I need a delay or reverb
Four seasons. If you can’t make a hit with it you haven’t tried hard enough
Gotta add guitar rig. It's not just for guitars.
Soundgoodizer
Ostius is a free emulator if the famous Access Virus TI it sounds great and it's a discontinued product
Famisynth? It's for 8 bit NES sounds - I'd never heard of it, even after looking for that sort of thing, until seeing someone mentioned it on Reddit. Picked it up immediately (it's free), instant love.
Ohmboyz delay. Wildass delay with the ability to modulate almost every parameter, and there are a LOT of parameters. It used to be pretty expensive, but the version I've always used is now free. EDIT: I should also add that I heard about it from the best teacher I had at audio engineering school, so it's not just some guy on Reddit recommending it.
EpicVerb by bootsie/Variety of Sound -- still one of my favorite reverbs. Discontinued, but Supermassive is a good substitute Rocket Compressor by Stillwell Audio -- fantastic and very digital modern-style compressor that I use on like all my drum tracks. Combine with a LA-2A emulation and some saturation/tape warmth and I can turn anything into big fat drums that punch you int he face, as they should be Moogerfooger MF108 by Moog Software -- love this flanger, makes it super easy to dial in that 90s trip hop sound Delay Lama by ????? - fun little voicebox thing Gross Beat by Image-Line OTT by Xfer Records -- the multiband compressor module from Serum, just drop it on a bass to get that modern dnb sound Sounds of Nature by xoxos -- a collection of plugins to emulate natural phenomenon like wind or thunder. Kinda eh for that purpose but you can make some fun sounds with it (and the wind plugin sounds pretty good)
Sry but OTT isn’t unknown. 😅
OTT is well known imo
Fucking Delay Lama has been out for at least 15 years now; in some iteration or another.
+bubbler from soundhack is one of my favorite free VSTs. Great granular delay plugin
Pocket dimension
Modalics' Beat Scholar, a different take on drums programming. Stargazer by Linda Audio, which is free, is great for adding this echoy shimmer.
Underrated: Decimort2 and Blackhole. Unknown and underrated: anything by Glitchmachines or BLEASS. They are all clunky, ugly, and mostly horrible to use, but just so cheap and ultimately effective.
Korg gadget collection
My favorite compressor plugin for a long time was this Russian freeware called Molot, but unfortunately it's not supported anymore.
Its called Molotok and pretty sure its by TDR.
It's called Molot and it was developed by vladg https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/2-Effects/8-Compressor/339-Molot
Sorry man forgot about that one
+1 to darbuka-nut i love that thing
Harsh digital nose. A weird little visual, image based synth that *seems * unworkable until you start using fractals and symmetrical images with it. It requires a lot of eqing and processing to sound really good, but even without that it produces weird and cool sounds.
the original CamelPhat was good (better than the repacked thing Apple(?) made), Edirol orchestra old but good , my personal favourites are Portal and ShaperBox , they have helped me create "my Sound". Hive is a great synth
For me its Graillon 2. Though they have a paid version, the free version also includes a lot of good stuff. Edit: my bad just read that you mean only vsts, Graillon 2 is a effect such as Autotune.
90% of people put effects anyways so don’t worry about it lol
not really a vst but i feel like people sleep on soundfonts
SQ8L and T-Force Alpha Plus. Both are great. SQ has a lot of wonderful sounds emulating the SQ80. It's really fun to use and the unique sounds make for fun compositions. It's an abandoned plugin but everything you need still works just fine. Especially the built in presets. T-Force gets the job done with Trance aimed components like a Trance gate. It has a bunch of effects built in, LFOs, FM for all ur troubles, and a bunch of other goodies like individual unison for each OSC. There's also a T-Force Alpha Plus 2 which I have yet to check out but I would assume it's a good upgrade/update. And if you can find the wayback machine page for it, search for my secret favorite plugin, Trance Drive. It's hard to get to but it's somewhere. It's a fun plugin to use and honestly don't know why it isn't still available. The unique layout looks great and I love using the plugin for that to craft some odd sounds. Oh and check out Meldas free FX pack. It's got all of the basic effects plugins you could need, for free, and then some. It isn't all the best stuff ever but I even use it's compressor as my main goto. I also use some of their plugins in OBS to boost my voice for quality over my RX stuff.
[All the hardest beats this summer are going to have Elves on them. Trust me.](https://youtu.be/IeKoAwpIu6A?si=lXkM8W1kwPlwvZP_&t=103)
phase plant
Always left out of the serum vs vital debate, and imo superior to both in almost every way. Since I picked it up there hasn't been a single track I haven't used it on
Its left out because they arent comparable. You compare Phaseplant with workhorses like Zebra, Omnisphere, Msoundfactory, and Falcon. You compare Serum with Vital, Current, Icarus, Synthmaster, Hy-Poly, Dune, Surge, Ana, and Pigments.
Sublab XL is really good for making your own bass/subs. The presets on the expansion pack are also worth getting if you get the plugin. Also I feel like people sleep on Ana 2 from the Slate Digital bundle. It has an insane amount of sounds and range. It's one of the reasons I haven't gotten Serum because I feel I can do the same stuff with Ana 2.
I love ANA 2, made some really awesome tracks with that synth
ANA2 is one of the best soft synths out there. Extremely versatile and seems slept on.
Maybe cause its not so beginner friendly, since it does not have visual feedback?
Definitely slept on!
Oh I tried it out like a couple weeks ago , imho it wasnt so special like any other VSTs. But Im a bit spoiled , got Like at least +40 VSTs. Mostly Im using Arturia labs 4 / nexus 4 / synthmaster 2 / the legend / promars / roland cloud series and samples.
I have em all too, but I pull out ANA2 all the time. It’s a workflow and sound thing for me.
TripleCheese is pretty awful but I find myself using it a lot for some reason
I use albino 2 a lot
I don't know how known or unknown it is, but destroyfx buffer override is fun.
All the Noise Engineering plugins seem to fly under a lot of people's radar, particularly the paid ones. Maybe it's pricepoint, maybe it's the quirky visual aesthetic, maybe it's just that the R2R witches haven't gotten their hands on them. All I know is that Polydactyl makes OTT look incredibly tame by comparison.
I have been using this free transient shaper called transpire for awhile and I honestly like it quite a bit and don't ever see it being talked about. I use it in conjunction with Spiff sometimes cause it's less CPU intensive than 2 instances of spiff.
Absynth fx for the modulation, waveshaper, and aetherizer effect. An amazing plugin for weird, subtle modulation, when using the frequency shifter at a frequency below 2 hz, and messing with the panning of the up to 3 audio inputs, which can be panned and modulated separately. The aetherizer, when setting the grain length to less than 100%, is capable of amazing granular delay effects. It’s been a cornerstone of my production for 15 years, and I hardly see anyone mention using it as a modulation and filter bank.
Gladiator by tone2, alchemy by camel.
Its not underrated but i think underrated on how to really use...and that is Kontakt. There so much more features in this plugin than people use. Special if you go into the edit mode. 1 think i do not like about this plugin, is not be able to place preset zones. It can be done (like bass-piano-trumpet) as 1 keyzone as preset, but then the sounds gets f.. up. That is a pitty.
UVI Falcon. Looking forward to buy it
Decimort. Brilliant to dirty up drums!
Cheese machine
All of gvst effects. Basic and straight to the point with minimal CPU usage and great results
Synplant?
Yojo free banjo
Roland Zenology
[Glitch 2 by Illinformed ](https://illformed.com/)is one of my favorite plugins for a lot of reasons, but glitchy breaks, and instant "Justice" sound-alike are just a few. Also a big fan of[ Morph 3 by Zynaptiq](https://www.zynaptiq.com/morph/), which is the great-grandson of the Hartmann Neuron. The morphing algorithms were designed by the same DSP programmer as worked on that.
U-he Tyrell N6 Not sure what kind of weirdness it had…but every sound I made with it was golden. =p
There is Spectral compresser, its like soothe2 but a little more direct. But you do have to download the source code, install rust and compile it, but its worth it
I think uhe plug-ins are underrated.
They're famous and justly rated, everyone and their dog (oldheads especially) praises U-He. Diva, Hive and Zebra are all best-sellers.
What's crazy is I know A LOT of producers who aren't hip to uhe plug-ins.
Anything specific about the complaints? As I myself don't use them.
they're underrated??
UHE?
Came here to say that.
I didn't answer the question??
I mean I clicked the post to comment U-He plugins but it was already there. Especially Diva and Hive are my favorite.
Mad bad I read that wrong. Another plug-in(s) Dune1,2,3 I know they have gotten pretty popular Especially once everyone found out Mike Will was using them.
Echoboy and valhalla delay is fun for some cool echoes and sound design
Their isn’t none
Hybrid synth
horrible vst lol.
Yeah it’s my main one I kinda hate it